Committed to developing comprehensive solutions to seemingly intractable problems, ABCD invited community members and leaders from Boston’s nonprofit and government sectors to come together for a forum at the Thelma Burns Building in Dorchester on June 25th.
Entitled “Boston’s Next Chapter: Expanding Opportunity and Economic Mobility,” the event was the first in a series of such forums ABCD plans to host in the coming months and represented a unique opportunity for panelists and community members to move from analysis to identifying actions, partnerships, and policy changes that could expand opportunity for Boston residents.
Moderated by ABCD President and CEO Sharon Scott-Chandler, the session opened with remarks from Benjamin Forman, Director of the MassINC Policy Center. Forman set the stage for the panel discussion by pointing out that economic mobility is essential not just to individual success, but to democracy and civic trust, and that pathways to prosperity for low-income residents and communities are scarce.
Panelists Bisola Ojikutu, M.D., M.P.H. Commissioner of Public Health and Executive Director, Boston Public Health Commission, Yves Salomon-Fernández, Ph.D., President, Urban College of Boston, Turahn Dorsey, President and CEO, Eastern Bank Foundation, and Marty Martinez, Ansin President and CEO, United Way of Massachusetts Bay each brought unique and vital perspectives to the discussion and delivered one clear takeaway: those living in Boston’s underserved neighborhoods are not benefitting from the city and region’s virtually unparalleled educational resources and institutional wealth.
Panelists pointed out that rather than viewing disparities in health, education, and community wealth as isolated problems with hyper-specific solutions, organizations should look to implement holistic policies that address the root causes of these issues: universal basic income, debt relief, free childcare, and more.
“The impact of this forum came not only from having so many leaders and members of the community in the same room but from the willingness and ability of these individuals to speak to and engage with the common threads that unite the issues they tackle on a daily basis,” said ABCD President and CEO Sharon Scott-Chandler.
Stay tuned for announcements about the next forum and check out photos from the June event here.